Avengers: Doomsday's latest official trailer finally unveiled footage of Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom using his magic powers, an ability poised to withstand the heavy hitters from the MCU heroes' side with ease. The promotional wave for Doomsday is establishing Doctor Doom as an unstoppable force who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goal in the Multiverse, even if it means taking on the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men all at once. The official synopsis of Avengers: Doomsday confirmed Doctor Doom's two main powers in the MCU, noting that he is "a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic." This is a dangerous combination because it removes the usual limitations that have constrained every previous mystical being, as others like Doctor Strange and the Scarlet Witch lack the superior technology and methodical precision of advanced engineering.
The Special Look at Avengers: Doomsday showed the first look at Doctor Doom unleashing his magic powers on the battlefield, with him seemingly guided by glowing runes on his armor that allowed him to casually stop Thor's Stormbreaker with two fingers. A rune is clearly visible on his glove, suggesting that his mystical roots are at play in this pivotal sequence.
The fact that Doom effortlessly prevented Thor from hitting him is significant because the Stormbreaker is the same weapon the God of Thunder used in Avengers: Infinity War, which withstood the full might of the six Infinity Stones and nearly killed Thanos.
Aside from stopping Thor and his Stormbreaker, Robert Downey Jr.'s Doom also blasted Chris Hemsworth's MCU hero away with a pulse of green energy, hurling him away from the battlefield as if he were a paperweight. Doom's effortless maneuver to best Thor elevates him to a much more dangerous threat, instilling genuine fear among the assembled heroes (most of whom are less powerful than the God of Thunder).
This single display of raw magical power against Thor makes Doom terrifying, but what he does next in the Avengers: Doomsday trailer elevates him into a greater threat. The final shot showed Doom using his rune-guided magic to awaken an army of fallen Sentinels in the X-Men universe, unleashing them as his secret weapons against the heroes in Doomsday (set to premiere on December 18).
Doom using Sentinels as his latest trick under his sleeve is a sign that his threat is far beyond personal combat. This act cemented the fact that his magic co-exists with technology, using the advanced machinery as heavy artillery against the unknowing heroes, while the rune magic commands them on a massive scale.
Doom clearly knows that the Sentinels can cause the X-Men's downfall, and he instantly weaponizes this weakness and transforms these robots from a dangerous symbol of anti-mutant themes into his own instrument for Multiversal conquest.
At the beginning of the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, a shot of Doctor Doom sitting on his throne at his Latverian castle was shown, and an interesting detail is that the green rune magic is emanating throughout his palace, indicating that he may be hard to pin down in his own territory because he is protected by his own magic.
Aside from being a barrier to his throne, the runes may also trigger a trap for anyone who dares to come near Doom, indicating that he might have found a way to keep the heroes at bay while he enacts his twisted plan to save the Multiverse.
How Doctor Doom's Magic Differs from Other MCU Magic Users
There is no denying that Doctor Doom is powerful in Avengers: Doomsday, and his hybrid expertise in magic and science makes him a clear-cut contender to stand out from other MCU magic users.
Doctor Strange and other Kamar-Taj sorcerers like the Sorcerer Supreme Wong rely on disciplined mystical arts from books and mentors, and their magic is anchored by signature orange energy to form portals, weapons, and constructs.
Based on how the MCU portrayed Doctor Strange's magic in the movies, it seems to lean more toward a defensive or protective nature, while still being driven by high skill and the high risks that come with a huge cost. Doom's mystical prowess, meanwhile, feels more innate and amplified by his runes and armor.
Wanda Maximoff (aka the Scarlet Witch) uses hex-driven by chaos magic as the primary source of her magic in the MCU. Wanda's powers are dangerous because they can warp and alter reality itself, and they can be amplified by external sources, such as the Darkhold. However, the powers become unstable when driven by grief or trauma. Doom seems to have a sense of control over his abilities, even though he is driven by grief due to the death of his wife and son.
Some official merchandise from Hasbro for Avengers: Doomsday teased that Doctor Doom can also unleash red magical energy, teasing a potential connection to the Scarlet Witch. If true, this could hint that Doom is much more powerful in the film, as he might be siphoning off Wanda's powers while possibly keeping her contained elsewhere in Latveria or in his castle.
Agatha: All Along officially revealed the extent of Billy Maximoff's powers, with the future Young Avenger managing to showcase blue energy through projecting telekinetic force, levitating, and seizing control of other witches' minds. Billy can also use formal witchcraft techniques rather than relying solely on innate instinct, as Doom does.
Billy is still powerful in his own right, as he managed to subconsciously create an entire Witches' Road that mirrors his mother Wanda's Hex on Westview, but on a more contained scale (because it is set in a pocket reality). Unlike Doom, who has clear mastery of his magic and tech-driven advancements, Billy is still a developing teenager who has yet to tap into his full potential, despite monumental feats in the WandaVision sequel.
Kathryn Hahn's Agatha Harkness, a witch who spent hundreds of years living in the MCU, unleashes his purple energy blasts against enemies, but it is only the tip of the iceberg of his powers because the real main event is her signature siphoning effect that drains power from other witches when they attack her.
Agatha would've been a great secret weapon for the Avengers because she could theoretically drain some (or even all) of Doom's powers if he attacks her directly. Given that Agatha "died" at the end of Agatha All Along, her powers are now limited.
Unlike Agatha, whose power is rooted in her witchcraft expertise and years of valuable experience and training, Robert Downey Jr.'s Doom demonstrates his rune-guided magic to establish dominance and ascend to god-tier level with effortless mastery.
All in all, Avengers: Doomsday is setting up Doom as a far more dangerous threat who can tap into different strategies in certain situations, using magic to unleash outright chaos through the Sentinels and tech advancements to keep those forces and other newfound inventions coordinated, multiply the battlefield, and act as a contingency plan when the mystic roots get compromised.
